1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an anti-helicobacter pylori composition comprising 1-methylcarbapenem derivatives or pharmacologically acceptable salts or esters thereof as an active ingredient, use of the derivatives, salts or esters for the preparation of an anti-helicobacter pylori medicament and a method which comprises administering a pharmacologically effective amount of the derivatives, salts or esters to warm-blooded animals for treatment and prevention of infectious diseases caused by helicobacter pylori.
2. Background Information
According to recent studies, there are a number of reports on the phenomenon that helicobacter pylori is detected at a high ratio in patients suffering from chronic gastritis or digestive ulcers, and that such gastrointestinal disorders are cured by the eradication of helicobacter pylori; and on the phenomenon that the recurrence ratio of digestive ulcers shows a drastic decrease as a result of the eradication of this bacterium. It is therefore thought that infection with this bacterium relates to chronic and digestive ulcers and, furthermore, it even has a close relationship with gastric cancer or gastritis (G. E. Buck et al., J. Infect. Dis., 153, 664-669(1986), G. Geis et al., J. Clinical Microbiology, 930-932(1990), etc.).
At present, it is reported that bismuth compounds such as bismuth citrate, nitroimidazole compounds such as metronidazole and antibiotics such as tetracycline, amoxicillin and clarithromycin are effective against helicobacter pylori. None of these compounds has sufficient antibacterial activity and each has a chemical structure markedly different from that of the 1-methylcarbapenem derivatives which are an active ingredient to be employed in the present invention.
The 1-methylcarbapenem derivatives, which are an active ingredient of the present invention, are known compounds (for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 745499, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. Hei 2-223587, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. Hei 4-279588, Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. Hei 8-53453 etc.), but their anti-helicobacter pylori activity is not known at all.